Wait, Am I the Settler? Reflections on Cultivating Critical Community-Based Research From a Decolonial Perspective

• In Event: Questioning in the Margins: Centering Qualitative Methodology and Methods in Historically Marginalized Traditions

Abstract

Settler colonialism, in the context of U.S. education, functions as a mechanism to perpetuate racial hierarchies and dominant ideologies, normalize the privileges of white settlers, and exploit Indigenous people and communities of color for the benefit of people in power (Tuck, 2011; Au et al., 2016). In other words, the hostile environment of the U.S. education system has been and continues to be an apparatus of the state to colonize and mold docile subjects and citizens (Okihiro, 2016). Amid the range of educational studies that may seem to orient from good intentions, most of our practices intensify, rather than challenge the dominant hegemony and prevailing social hierarchies (Apple et al., 2022). With the rising xenophobia, homophobia, and adverse public health and economic conditions that have harmed so many racially and economically minoritized students and communities, how can we pride ourselves on staying engaged in the field while witnessing youth living in perilous times and dehumanizing conditions?

In this presentation, I harbor a parallel spirit and seek to elucidate the epistemic mechanics of white supremacy and settler colonialism, and encourage critical epistemic interrogation and introspection in building socially accountable and decolonizing educational research agenda. Specifically, I reflect on my previous research experiences. That includes descriptions of salient moments where I, as a part of a university research team, helped develop a youth-participatory literacy program but failed to prioritize long-term community objectives. The program introduces graduate students to youth participatory methodologies while concurrently supporting local students. However, given that our approach was distinctly at odds with normative school practices, we were often positioned by school authorities as “outsiders” and consequently had to end the program.

Using reflective methodology and bringing in the construct of ethnographic monitoring (Hymes, 1980), I reflect on (1) my own bias, theoretical predisposition, assumptions, and power relations vis-à-vis the “researched,” and (2) how these aspects affected every stage of the research, from the disciplinary framing of the questions, the choice of the methodology, to how findings were being presented. I use my own case to highlight the need for us to monitor our work and keep reshaping it to include the insights of our participants and community members. Through discussing the controversies emerging from the research experience in a segregated university neighborhood, the session addresses some of the dilemmas that surround critical community-based research from a decolonizing perspective. Finally, I delve into my own uncertainties and hopes around critical education and decolonization. As a non-white transnational female scholar, I discuss my complex subjectivities that include being complicit in privileges gained from institutions founded on land theft and genocide and my social positioning as a person of color. Nevertheless, I argue such a critical reflexive lens pushes us out of the simplistic white-other dichotomy and inspires us to think about our responsibilities in complex ways (Motha, 2020). Guiding discussion question: How do you see the paradigm shift in critical participatory action research inform teachers, educators, and educational researchers to reconceptualize their classrooms, pedagogies, and curriculum?

Author

• Shuang Fu, New York University
  Presenting Author